About Domaine Weinbach

Domaine Weinbach was established in 1610 by the Capuchin monks who also gave their name to the domaine's most prized vineyard, Clos des Capucins. The estate itself got the name Weinbach -- which literally translates to 'wine brook' -- from a little stream that trickles through the property. The current owners are the Faller family, whose ancestors bought the property in 1898. Theo Faller, who inherited Domaine Weinbach from his father and uncle, was responsible for the emergence of the estate during the mid 20th century. A fervent advocate of the wines of Alsace, Theo lobbied long and hard for the extension of the appellation system to the region. Coincidentally, or maybe not, the Schlossberg vineyard, 10 hectares of which belong to the Fallers, was named the first of several Grand Crus in Alsace.

Up until the spring of 2014 the winery was run by Theo's widow, Colette Faller and her two daughters, Laurence and Catherine. Sadly, Laurence passed away at the age of 47 in May of 2014, followed by her mother in February of 2015, leaving Catherine to run the winery. Politics aside, the Faller family offers an extensive range of pure, highly expressive wines that exhibit strong soil tones and complex, well-delineated flavors. The multiple cuvees of Rieslings reflect their specific terroirs, combining fruity and stony elements in a particularly exhilarating way. The Fallers also craft Gewürztraminers that showcase the variety's extravagant richness and exotic perfume, but with precision of aromas and flavors. There are many, many cuvees here, but you can be assured that these wines will all be of excellent quality. Following the trend in Alsace, the family has farmed half of their 27 hectares biodynamically since 1998.

About Alsace

Alsace has been almost pathologically ignored by the American wine-drinking public for generations--a real mystery in light of the great number of juicy, pure wines produced in this picture-postcard region of northeastern France. Virtually all of Alsace's best wines are white, and they are particularly food-friendly thanks to their fresh fruit flavors unobscured by oak. While the majority of the region's most important wines are Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer, other grapes, especially Pinot Blanc and Muscat, account for some of the best values in Alsace wines.

The distinctly continental Alsace region is sheltered from inclement weather out of the west by the Vosges mountain range and bounded by the Rhine River to the east, the border with Germany. Surprisingly, in light of its northerly location, the town of Colmar, in the center of Alsace, is one of the driest cities in France, so that grape-growers in this region are able to pick healthy grapes deep into autumn. Slow ripening allows the fruit to develop flavor intensity while retaining sound acidity. No doubt global warming has largely been responsible for ever-riper grapes in recent years and finished wines with more residual sweetness

About France

France is the fountainhead of the grape varieties most craved by North American wine drinkers: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, these grapes are widely referred to as "international" varieties because they have been planted and imitated all over the world. Of course, one of the most exciting developments in wine over the past generation has been the growth of intriguing local styles of these varieties, such as Pinot Noir in Oregon and New Zealand, or Syrah in Australia, South Africa, and California. But most cosmopolitan wine-lovers -- and even winemakers -- would agree that French wines are the archetypes.

France enjoys the perfect geographic position for the production of a wide range of fine wines. Its relatively northerly location ensures long hours of daylight during the summer months and an extended growing season, allowing for the slow and steady accumulation of flavor in the grapes. Although the country as a whole enjoys a temperate climate, conditions can vary significantly within a limited land mass: cool and Atlantic-influenced; continental, with very cold winters and hot summers; warm and Mediterranean, with wet winters and dry summers.

Wines of France

France began classifying its best French wine-producing sites more than 200 years ago. Its detailed appellation controlee system, designed in the 1930s, has served as the model for classification systems adopted by other countries in Europe and elsewhere. Appellation d'Origine Controlee (often abbreviated to AOC), means "controlled place name" and is the consumer's assurance of the origin and authenticity of any French wine whose label bears these words.

AOC laws, administered by France's INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), establish the geographic limits of each appellation, permissable grape varieties and methods of production, minimum alcohol level, and maximum crop level (or yield) per hectare. Just beneath the highest category of appellation controlee is the comparatively tiny category of VDQS (Vins Delimites de Qualite Superieure), wines which may eventually be promoted to AC status and which are most commonly found in the Loire Valley and the Southwest. The third category is Vins de Pays, or "country wines". This latter category gives producers, including some of the more adventurous French wine growers, an escape route from the straitjacket of AC regulation in terms of higher permitted yields and less restrictive geography, a wider range of legal grape varieties, and fewer restrictions as to method of production and minimum age of vines. Finally, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are Vins de Table, or simple "table wines."

And yet, despite France's illustrious wine history and the fact that it is still the world's leading producer of wine, the country is struggling to compete in the international market. Today, France faces fierce competition from New World wine producers. U.S. imports of French wines actually declined, in number ofcases, between the end of 2002 and early 2006 -- this during a period when overall wine consumption in the U.S. grew by more than 50 percent.

Today, the French government is agonizing over how to help French wine producers, who are also facing homegrown challenges such as changing domestic drinking habits and an aggressive anti-alcohol abuse program. Wine producers in some regions of France are coming to view the AC system itself as an obstacle to selling wines to North America and other important export markets. Among the changes being considered are loosening restrictions on what can be planted where and on how wines can be made, and allowing producers in certain areas to indicate the grape variety or varieties on their labels -- rather than simply the place name, which is less meaningful to consumers in many of France's key export markets.

About Gewurztraminer

Flavor Profile

Ranges from dry to sweet, but deeply aromatic in all styles

One of the wine world's love-it-or-hate-it grapes, Gewürztraminer is for many wine lovers the signature variety of Alsace. Its highly perfumed aromas of rose petal, smoked meat, lychee, grapefruit, and spices are immediate and captivating, although some examples lack refinement and seem a bit blowzy owing to low acidity and high alcohol. Gewürztraminer is as unlike the steelier, more aristocratic Riesling as a white grape can be. No other region of the world has been able to produce significant quantities of Gewürztraminer that even approach the decadent richness and exotic fruit qualities that the best producers in Alsace achieve. Still, other than late-harvest versions, Gewürztraminer is normally a dry wine in Alsace, despite smelling like a sweet one. Gewürztraminer marries beautifully with rich, fatty dishes like pork and goose or ripe cheeses, as well as with the exotic spices of Moroccan, Indian, and Far Eastern cuisines.